Traditional · Key of A · Public domain
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This is Loch Lomond moved from G to the key of A, with every chord already worked out. In this key the song uses A, F#m, D, E7. If you would rather keep open chord shapes and still sound in A, play it capo 2 with the G shapes, or capo 5 with the E shapes, or capo 7 with the D shapes.
The story behind the song and tips for playing it are on the main Loch Lomond chords and lyrics page. Other easy guitar keys: key of G, key of C, key of D, key of E, key of F.
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
In the key of A, Loch Lomond uses 4 chords: A, F#m, D and E7. The chords sit over the words in the chart above, and tapping a chord name under Chords in This Song opens its diagram.
This chart is in the key of A. The other easy guitar keys for it are the key of G, key of C, key of D, key of E, key of F, each with the whole song rewritten. Pick the key whose chords you know, or the one that sits best for the singers: all twelve are one tap away at the top of the chart, with capo options for keeping the open shapes.
Nobody knows for certain, and that is part of the song's pull. The usual reading is a Jacobite one: after the rising of 1745 a captured Highlander, held at Carlisle and facing execution, tells his love that his spirit will take the low road, the fairy path home for a soldier who dies abroad, and reach Scotland before she does by the living road. Whatever its origin, the chorus is a farewell, and Scots sing it as one.
Braes are hillsides, a glen is a narrow valley and the gloaming is dusk. Gae is go, tak' is take, afore is before, frae is from, kens nae means knows no, waeful means sorrowful and wee birdies are little birds. Ben Lomond is the mountain on the loch's eastern shore.
Yes. The words and the melody of Loch Lomond are in the public domain, which is why the full lyrics and chords are published here. You can print this sheet, hand it out, and perform or record the song anywhere without a license.
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